Troll A is a gravity-base gas platform in the North Sea. It rises 1,549 feet (472 meters) and weighs 683,600 metric tonnes (about 754,000 US tons).
It holds the record for the tallest structure humans have ever moved.
Crews towed it 124 miles (200 kilometers) from Vats, in Rogaland, to the Troll gas field. The trip lasted seven days under constant weather watch.
It left on the afternoon of May 10, 1995. On May 17 it was in position, and they lowered it to the seabed in 994 feet (303 meters) of water.
Two thousand people worked on the build at Vats.
There is one day when the forecast gets special care.
The day you move a platform worth billions of kroner toward the open sea.
The operation became a television sensation.
They did not assemble it out on the water.
Reinforced concrete makes the platform self-supporting. Its weight alone keeps it on the seabed.
And that height?
It is almost one and a half times the Eiffel Tower. Only this tower was moved whole across the sea.
They did not cut it into pieces.
They towed it, then let it stand by itself.
Enjoyed the story?
Follow Colossal Facts for a new story every day.
Or watch them as short videos on Facebook →
